"A Night in the Lonesome October" Daily Read 2025

[Melanie, the neutral party]

A Night in the Lonesome October
October 2025 Daily Read

Previous years: Daily Read 2019 / Daily Read 2020 / Daily Read 2021/ Daily Read 2022

Official Discussions: First impressions | Final thoughts

Do not look at the blurb of any edition, because many of them contain massive spoilers. If you've already read it, please don't spill the beans!

We will be reading one chapter per day, since there are 31 chapters, one for each day in October.

Please wait until Goodreads time rolls around to a particular day before posting about it. No spoiler tags needed. If you're rereading and want to speculate about something spoilery, please head on over to the spoiler thread!

How spoilers work in this thread: After it's October 1st in the Goodreads time zone, you can post open spoilers about the October 1st chapter. If it's already October 2nd in the GR time zone, and you haven't read the October 2nd chapter yet, don't read new posts that pop up. No spoiler tags needed, but never post about a chapter that's still in the future.

The system is the same as this year. Open spoilers allowed after midnight Goodreads time. So you can safely read all comments with the date October 1st once you've read chapter 1, and so on.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

There is no official mod for this thread.

[Ellen]

The first line of the prologue made me smile. I had forgotten about Snuff. It's good to see you old friend. I last read this book in 2022.
I also read Jim's notes from the 2019 read. He gives lots of background and insights.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

The opening of this book is strangely cozy.

[CJ]

OMG, I have this checked out via Libby and need to read it before I have to return it. I have been a mess with my reading lately, lol.

(I will have to return it before the daily readings are done, sadly so I can't really do the daily reading schedule)

[Megan]

I'm joining in for a re-read! I enjoyed this last time I read it, but I haven't yet done a day-by-day read, so I'm excited to have a chapter a day to look forward to all this month.

My favorite bit in the prologue is when Snuff explains that he likes being a watchdog better than what he was before he was summoned. It's an intriguing hint of mystery and danger, but it also feels sweet to me because he should like being a watchdog--he's so good at it! I love how we see him interact with other animals (and creatures and Things) these first couple of days.

[Ellen]

A dog fetching a knife is sort of scary but Snuff is exceptional.
It's probably in a scabbard now that I think about it.

[Aga]

I'm a little late to the party, but I'm reading daily. Just didn't have a time to properly sit down and post anything.

I'm surprised how much I have missed this book! It get's cosier every time. It's nice to get back to my previous notes and add some new.Every time there are some new, tiny, interesting pieces to notice. And there are some books from my TBR to pick up because of some references here, like The King in Yellow.

My favourite character is going to finally appear tomorrow, if I'm not mistaken.

[Mihai]

I`m also late in posting and keeping the rythm. I like the cat.

[Aga]

Good to see you here, Mihai!

Love Grey and Snuff, but my favorite character is definitely Bubo! I’m biased, because he reminds me of my favorite pet rat - Mort. And his puns are golden, haha. Smart little fellow.

This time, I start to think that Snuff is more dangerous than he seems and presents himself as a narrator. He is a familiar after all.

[Ellen]

Aga I think you are right about Snuff. He is more dangerous than he appears.
Zelazny puts in a lot of humor that is easy to miss also.

[Ellen]

Looked at the cover photo with numbers from the 2019 read. Some are obvious some not. It seems which is Jack and which is the detective has the most disagreement.

[Aga]

Ellen wrote: "Looked at the cover photo with numbers from the 2019 read. Some are obvious some not. It seems which is Jack and which is the detective as the most disagreement."

I wish there was a right answer to this riddle somewhere. I don’t think I can ever figure it out. Familiars are easy to identify but I’m never sure about the people.

[Ellen]

The Vicar goes on a righteous rampage shooting at Needle and some of the other familiars with a crossbow. Claims he has a "moral warrant". Does that hold up in court?

[Ellen]

It's a drag for Snuff.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

lolol

[Melanie, the neutral party]

I find myself taking more joy this time around into all of Watson's injuries. It's a sly running gag.

[Ellen]

I like how the detective keeps showing up in disguises that don't fool anyone. Certainly not Snuff.
Chapter 17 always makes me giggle with the shopping for and sharing of body parts.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

Chapter 17 is definitely my favorite chapter.

[Ellen]

Jim's notes on Chapter 19 from the 2019 discussion had a lot of interesting information. I had forgotten a lot of it.

[Megan]

I've been running behind on my daily chapters, but I finally caught up today. Even after a whole run of very tense days (Gray & Snuff's trip, the vivisectionists, the attack on Jack's house), I still found Snuff and Gray and Cheeter trying to recover & reunite Cheeter with his shadow the tensest thing!! Like, I'm on the edge of my seat reading line by line as a dog pries nails off a wall, lol.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

So glad you are enjoying it. The vivisection chapter is where the book turns from cozy to dark.

[Lars]

Bubo is a sneaky little rat, but also rather clever, I quite enjoy this October tradition. wonder if there’s other novels that can be read one chapter a day

[Ellen]

Bubo was hanging around the Good Doctor's place for the leftovers from his work? Eww. Don't think I've ever thought about what kind of leftovers those are before.

[Ellen]

I really don't like the Vicar.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

We are not supposed to like him. In a tale of storybook villians, he's the evil-est.

[Ellen]

Melanie wrote: "We are not supposed to like him. In a tale of storybook villians, he's the evil-est."

I know. He is the evil-est indeed.

[Megan]

Carpe baculum!

[Lars]

Bubo saves the day, how fitting and he’s not even a player

[Melanie, the neutral party]

...Or he almost ruined the game. Jack would have won without the interference.

Also quite the setup for that closing line.

PS: I cheated and finished yesterday, I just couldn't help myself.

[Ellen]

I finished yesterday. Always a fun read . It always leaves me smiling and since I'm not a dog people can tell.

[Pamela]

This is my favorite book for October. I’ve read it every year for 3 years now. Amazon has copies of this book now so I bought a few for friends so they can enjoy this clever cult book too!

[Ellen]

Pamela wrote: "This is my favorite book for October. I’ve read it every year for 3 years now. Amazon has copies of this book now so I bought a few for friends so they can enjoy this clever cult book too!"

It is my favorite read for October also. I read it 4 years in a row, skipped 2 years then read it last year with the group reread .
I was just looking at it on the shelf the other day. I have a challenge prompt for another group that it will fit perfectly.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

We typically do a group read of some variety.

[Alistair, chronically anachronistic]

I was sorry to miss this last year (I was barely conscious for much of October, in my defense). I hope to be able to make up for it this year, after other seasonal readings (see this post).